T.J. Lavin "Progressing" After Horrific Bike Crash: What Are His Chances?

(CBS) Things may be be looking up for professional dirt bike rider and MTV host T.J. Lavin, who was hospitalized last Thursday after being critically injured during a qualifying run for a race in Las Vegas.

Lavin, 33, had been in a medically induced coma and is now "slowly progressing," his friend Chas Aday told MTV. 

"They took him off sedation ... yesterday morning to where he followed some simple commands and then they put him back on sedation," Aday said. "He had an MRI yesterday that came back. They didn't see any further brain damage or anything but there's still some swelling there. They took him off the sedation this morning completely but he's still unconscious."

Why would doctors put someone in a medically induced coma?

The goal, Dr. Lee Schwamm, director of stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital told CBS News, is to limit swelling and pressure inside the skull, which can cut off blood flow to the brain and kill brain cells. It's also an effort to "rest" the brain so that it requires less blood, oxygen, and glucose.

Lavin - who reportedly was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash - also broke his ribs and shattered a wrist, according to MTV.

According to People, the race was to have been Lavin's last.

MORE HEALTH CONTENT FROM CBS NEWS: